Delaware Foreclosures High Jumping

June 10th, 2008 | Tags: Foreclosure Ratings

In May the number of Delaware foreclosures high jumped by 87% from the previous year. New Castle County is particularly affected. The increase in fuel and cost of essentials has further mired the mess and house owners are at the end of their tether.

Across the state 446 foreclosures were filed in the Superior Court this May. New Castle recorded 266 and Sussex 110 foreclosure postings. These were record figures. In Kent there were 70 foreclosure listings. In April across the state where were 233 foreclosures including 33 in Kent, 59 in Sussex and 136 in New Castle.

During the first quarter of 2008 the foreclosures figures across the country reached record high numbers.

In the past year Sussex topped the list of foreclosures and this year it continued to rise with 139% jump. Gerry Kelly, bank commissioner of Delaware commented that this shows the struggle that is going on in Seaford, Laurel and Millsboro. In Kent County the increase was at a modest 46% but in New Castle it was a steep rise by 72%. So far foreclosures in New Castle had been crawling slowly at 27%. But recently Wilmington City and the regions of New Castle and Newark are mainly responsible for the spike.

Delaware’s ranking in the national foreclosure race is also causing concerns. The mortgage rate delinquencies (3.15%) places it 17th in USA. The state has 174,000 outstanding loans and of these 5,000 has crossed the 30 days mark. This indicates the stress as a whole of the community in this area. Officials of the state are closely monitoring the situation so as to be able to come forward with assistance. There are ongoing training and counseling programmes to make the borrowers more aware of their predicament and what they can do about it. Primarily they have to be alert about scammers for whom they are now easy targets. Already hundreds have lost their houses and money to fraudulent help companies. One has to be aggressive in matters of survival – passivity does not help.

The problem today is not so much about rising interest rates but about falling real estate markets. Banks weighed down by increasing number of foreclosed houses and unable to sell them are offering heavy discounts. This in turn is affecting negatively the general housing market. With mortgage companies downing shutters loans are not easily available – thus buyers are few.